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Erika nodded, as she walked into the ranch, past the people that came here once everyday to ride their horses they boarded. As she ran towards the kitchen, she called the maid. "Do we have any bottles?" The maid looked confused. Erika rolled her eyes. "Baby bottles?" The maid, still looking bewildered, fetched a baby bottle. She poured in some milk for Erika, too. "Thanks," Erika said, as she ran upstairs to Ryan's bedroom. "Here." She handed him the bottle. "The maid gave me some milk in there, too. It should work. Poor little guy."

~Ryan~
He scooped the young fox up when he heard his door open, thinking it was the owner. Letting out a sigh of relief Ryan took the bottle from her hands, wrapping it in his jacket to make it a bit more warm for the baby. Ryan smiled some and put the small bottle to his lips, the kit grabbing hold and suckling anxiously. "Should we give him a name?" Ryan asked, stroking his soft fur.

Erika sat on Ryan's bed, thinking. "Hmm..." she thought to herself. She remembered watching the "Fox and the Hound" when she was little. What was the fox's name? Oh, yes. "How about Tod?" she asked Ryan. She stroked the red fur, undoing knots on the way.

Ryan nodded and smiled at the name, remembering it himself from Fox and The Hound. He looked over at her, catching her eyes. He was in some sort of daze when he caught her beautiful eyes. Todd meanwhile eating the bottle as though it would be the only food left in the world. The kit was anxious and probably happy now that he had his little tummy full. Ryan didn't break the gaze as he began to stroke the fox's fur too, unaware that Erika's hand was there too.

As Erika stroked the fox's long fur, she felt Ryan's hand touch hers. For a moment, she just stopped and looked up at Ryan. Suddenly, she said, "Um... I probably should go see what's for dinner." She walked up to leave the room.

Ryan snapped out of it when she began talking, he nodded and blinked over and over again. "Okay." He said simply before looking back down at Todd again. The bottle was pretty much empty at this point and Todd was drifting into a sleep. When Erika opened the door his two Rottweiler dogs ran into the room, barking and sniffing at this creature. The fox woke with a fright and began clawing at Ryan's hand and at the bottle. "Hush boys!" He said, stroking the cowering kit. Bear and Diesel both stopped barking and sat, awaiting another command. Ryan took a deep breath, sitting the kit down and going over to a small crate he had saved ever since Diesel was a puppy. It was the crate he had outgrown, and it would make a great temporary home for the fox. All he needed was some hay, "Erika wait!" He said, looking at her again. "Could you go out to the barn and get me a handful of hay please?" He asked kindly, the fox crawling under his pillow.

Todd ~ http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oFVLeqW7tFQ/T ... 1f353e.jpg
Crate ~ http://cdn101.iofferphoto.com/img3/item ... -79d3f.jpg

OOC::// Aww, Todd is sooo cute!

Erika nodded, leaving the room. As she walked towards the barn, she thought of Ryan. She had never felt this way towards anyone before. Could she be... developing a crush on him? She shook her head. She couldn't be. But in her heart, she knew she was.

As she reached for some hay in the barn, she heard a neigh from somewhere near the pasture. Putting the hay down, she went over to see. Sure enough, there was a horse. It looked to be a palomino Quarter Horse. But for some reason, it didn't look familiar. It must be a stray horse or something. As she walked slowly towards it, the horse nickered at her. She reached out her hand and the horse blew on it. She wondered if it was safe to take this horse in for her. Not seeing what the harm was, Erika quickly ran back to the barn and grabbed a halter and walked back to the horse. "Easy boy," she said smoothly. She carefully slipped the halter on. As she put on the lead rope, she examined the horse all over. On his legs there were a few scratches but nothing too serious. "You're a good boy," Erika said, giving the horse a stroke of praise. She led the horse back to the barn and put him in an empty stall, not used by one of the boarders. "There you go... Nickers," Erika said, giving the horse a name. "I'll call you Nickers."

As she walked back to the house, she picked up some hay. She ran to the ranch and hid the hay behind her, and hurried upstairs to Ryan's room. She opened the door and gave the hay to him.

OOC::// Here is the image of the palomino Quarter Horse : http://www.theequinest.com/images/palomino-9.jpg

As he watched Erika leave for the short while it actually made him feel a bit empty. Had he liked her? No, it couldn't be. Ryan glanced back up at the door before smiling again, Erika had returned with the hay. Opening his hands Ryan took the hay gently and spread it out evenly in the crate, knowing the little kit would like it more to smell like outside rather than laundry soap. Ryan looked back at Todd who was now curled up at his side, sleeping soundly. Ryan gently scooped him up and lay him in the crate, shutting the door quietly and sliding the crate beside his bed. "Mind if Todd is in here with me?" He asked Erika, looking into her eyes.

OOC::// I know right!(: It took me like 25 minutes to find a Fox kit that adorable lol.

"No," Erika said. "I think he likes it in here with you." She smiled. Suddenly, she took a deep breath, and explained everything to Ryan about finding the stray horse, and asking him if it was safe to gentle it.

Ryan sat and listened to Erika tell him about the stray horse she had found. "Well lets go take a look at him shall we?" Ryan said with a smile. The taller male glanced one more time at the fox kit before standing up again and making his way to the door. He wanted to see this stallion she had managed to capture, wondering how beautiful and wild he actually was.

Erika led Ryan out to the barn, and showed him the handsome stallion she had managed to capture. "I also gave him a name," Erika confessed to Ryan nervously. They finally reached the stall Erika had put him in, and she told Ryan what name she had given the stallion. "I called him Nickers." She stroked the horse's long silvery-white mane. It was the most beautiful horse she had ever seen. As she waited for Ryan to get finished inspecting her, she pet the horse's strong gentle head.

Ryan smiled at the stallion, "He's gorgeous." He said, looking the stallion over again. Slowly and calmly reaching up Ryan stroked his nose, pulling his lip up to look at his teeth. "Good teeth too." He said, trying to frighten the newcomer. Ryan took a step back and examined him, "Nice muscles, strong looking legs. He'll be great for racing or show jumping." He said, a smile on his face. "Pretty sweet boy too." He said and grinned at Erika.

Erika smiled back. "Well," she said, "I guess I can keep him!" As Erika pet Nickers' soft body, she had wanted to ask Ryan something. "Um, Ryan," she started out. "D-do you want to...you know... come out to dinner with me? Just the two of us?" She blushed a little, but in the growing darkness of the barn, she doubted Ryan could see it.

Ryan was a little taken aback by the question. Usually he'd be the one asking his friend to go to dinner with him, but he nodded anyway. "Sure of course." He said with a grin, pretending he couldn't see that her cheeks were a bit darker now in this dim light. An obvious sign she was blushing, deeply. Ryan glanced back at the horse and then at Erika again.

"Well," Erika said, "I should probably go get changed." She stroked Nickers' mane one last time, then headed inside up to her room. As she locked her door and got changed, she wondered whether Ryan would find it funny that SHE was the one asking, not him. Well, at least she asked him and that was all that mattered. She finished changing and looked in the mirror, putting on her makeup.